Improvement in carriage-bodies



O. THOMAS.

Carriage Body.

N0..111',491. Patented JaJn. 31, 187L- NJEIERS, PHOTD-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON. n. c,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHAUNOEY THOMAS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CARRIAGE-BODIES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 11 L491, dated January 31, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OHAUNOEY THOMAS, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Carriage-Bodies; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawing which accompanies and forms part of this specification, is a description of my invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

My invention relates particularly to the production of ornamentally-designed sleigh and carriage bodies from sheet metal, the construction being, however, also valuable and important as a means of producing a body of great strength and endurance.

The improvement has particular reference to what are known as shell-pattern bodies, but is applicable to the formation of various other shapes. For small vehicleslike toy carriages and carriages for childrenI prefer to use one plate, the body formed from which shall be free from joints or seams; but for horse-carriages several plates may be used in the formation of the body.

The invention consists in a carriagebody the sides of which are formed into shape by bending or corrugating the metal-that is to say, the sides are not formed of corrugated metal plates brought to shape after having been corrugated, but the plates are corrugated into the permanent form they are to possess.v

The drawing represents a carriage-body embodying my, invention.

A shows a sectional elevation of the body. B is a plan of it. a denotes the bottom, I; b the opposite sides, 0 the back, and dthe front, of the body. These sides, bottom, back, and front are shown as formed in one unbroken piece of metal, the bottom a preferably retaining its flat shape (or the normal shape of the body-forming metal plate) and the other parts being bent into shape, and such bending into shape being effected by corrugating the respective parts directly to their ultimate form-that is to say, the superficial contractions required to be given to the metal plate to bring the sides into the boX or hollowing form are distributed throughout the upturned sides by uniform transverse bends, made by forming radial depressions at the curved parts of the body and perpendicular or nearly perpendicular depressions where the sides are nearly straight, the sides being upturned by and in the corrugating process. With proper tools these corrugations are readily produced in such manner as to effect the desired shape without any other treatment of the metal plates, and the body so produced is very strong, able to withstand shocks and blows without material injury, and is exceedingly shapely and ornamental.

Around the top the body may be surmounted by a suitable cap-piece or bead, f, and to obviate the necessity of undue width in said bead the projecting parts of the corrugations at the top of the body may have repressions g, bringing the metal edge into anarrow space, so that it can enter a comparatively narrow groove, h, in the under side of the cap-piece f.

I claim 1. A carriage-body formed of one sheet of metal, and in which the sides are bent into shape without cutting the metal, substantially as described.

2. A carriage-body having its sides corrugated into form substantially as shown and described.

3. In a carriage-body with corrugated sides, the repressions at the top of the sides to receive the cap-piece.

OHAUNOEY THOMAS. 

